Section 10 teams fall to Section 7 rivals in state soccer openers

CANTON - The Canton Central girls soccer team ran into both an irresistable force and an immovable object on Wednesday night at SUNY Canton in the first round of the Class B state tournament.

A powerful Easterly wind bottled up the Lady Bears in the first half when Section 7s Saranac Central scored twice and had another goal called back. The second half saw the highly-skilled Lady Chiefs overcome the wind and score twice more to secure a 4-0 victory and remain unbeaten on the season.

Saranac (16-0-1) moves on to play Section 3 champion Marcellus on Saturday in the state quarterfinals.

Without a doubt the best team we saw all year, said Canton coach Greg Kiah, They were extremely athletic and had some great playmakers. They were the better team tonight.

Probably the most athletic player was junior striker Ellen Thew who opened the scoring in the seventh minute when she took a through pass from amy LoTemplio at midfield, raced down the middle of the field and beat two Canton fullbacks before blasting home a drive for the 1-0 lead. Thew also scored 13 minutes into the second half against the wind after a nice give-and-go with teammate Kayla Napper which made it 3-0 and put the game out of reach for Canton.

I thought at halftime that there was a good chance Canton could come back on us, but our team played well in both halves, said Thew. We just work so well together.

LoTiemplo scored late in the first half on a penalty kick after Thew had been taken down near the goal line for the 2-0 halftime lead and Summer Gillespie closed out the scoring from close range with 14 minutes left after a long cross by LoTemplio.

The penalty kick goal gave us a big lift, giving us a two-goal cushion just before halftime, said Saranac coach Mary LoTemplio. Our back line covered everything and gave Canton few opportunities. They handled the wind conditions very well.

Jamie Favrea made four saves for the shutout while Katie Clemmer had five stops for Canton (14-5).

CLASS C GIRLS SOCCER

Northern Adirondack 3, Brushton-Moira 2: Playing with a strong wind at their back, the Brushton-Moira girls took a 2-1 halftime lead over Northern Adironack in the Class D state opener at SUNY Canton.

Kenzie Traynor volleyed home a 35-yard direct kick to give the Lady Panthers a 1-0 lead in the 6th minute, before the Bobcats tied it a minute later as Elle Warrick connected from Rachael Venne. Melissa Cox gave B-M a 2-1 lead in the 23rd minute as she converted a pass from Mika Uehara.

But the wind and the second half belonged to the Warrick-from-Venne combination as the pair teamed up twice more, in the 49th and 66th minutes respectively, for the 3-2 victory.

It was third hat trick of the season for Warrick.

We knew at halftime wed have the wind in our favor the rest of the way and we did a really good job controlling things in the second half, said Warrick.

Anna Lashway made three saves in goal for Northern Adirondack while Ashley Debeer came up with six stops for the Panthers.

The wind was a hige factor, but you have to give it to NAC. They moved the ball really well and the one goal they scored against the wind was the difference, said Panther coach Clark Phippen. Im really proud of our girls. Obviously were disappointed tonight, but we dont have a single senior on the team and we look forward to next year.

FA TEAMS SWEPT

At the Potsdam Central turf field on Wednesday, both the Franklin Academy boys and girls soccer teams fell to their Section 7 counterparts from Peru in the first round of the state Class A tournament.

In the boys game, Peru (10-4-2) broke the game open with two goals in the 21st minute of the second after half after the teams had battled to a scoreless halftime draw. Jacob Dick opened the scoring four minutes into the second half assisted by Russell LaFave. Ian Spear netted the second Peru goal assisted by Dick in the 21st minute then Jonathan Plesis-Belair made it 3-0 just 40 seconds later with an unassisted goal before Alex Johnson got the Huskies on the board when he struck for an unassisted goal with less than four minutes remaining.

Guy Loveless had 10 saves backstopping the win while Austin Lamay turned aside 22 shots for FA which finished at 9-7-1 for the season.

The girls game saw Peru (7-7-1) produced the only goal of the second to come away with the win. Rachel Sheldrick opened the scoring off an assist from Lindsey Bushey in the 12th minute of the first half before Katlynn Allen pulled the Lady Huskies even with an unassisted goal in the 36th minute.

Bushey broke through for the eventual game-winner with 22:39 left in regulation on a long indirect kick that sailed into the back of the net. The goal counted when it was ruled that netminder Jaymie Lavoie had made contact with the ball before it crossed the line.

Emily Larsen made seven saves backstopping the win while Lavoie stopped five shots for FA (12-5-1).

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